Nesheim Online Blog

Startup Managers Work in Turmoil: 2nd of 7 in the series

Startup managers live in turmoil, in chaotic surroundings.

They thrive in what others see as a mess.

Is that you?

Once launched, the new enterprise quickly finds powerful forces that push managers of the new enterprise to make daily changes in the plan for the business. The alterations are often radically new, pushing the management into unexpected directions. That provokes a lot of emotions. Not much during the early stages is predictable – other than the current situation is going to change very soon.

Unlike executing a rigid plan for a giant public corporation, a startup’s plan is constantly changing in response to what is happening. Moving into the new market that it has chosen to compete in soon has management scrambling daily: Action, reaction, re-reaction, repeat.

Trials and errors after launch of new products is classically chaotic. Initial customer responses trigger a roller coaster of unpredictable results, hot and cold, up and down. Success is followed by failure. And failure is followed by success. Experienced startup managers react quickly, with minimal analysis, altering marketing directions, shifting customer focus, modifying external communications, changing customer support and suppliers, as well as altering spending and hiring. For instance, when tech managers get “Fix it, change it!” shouts from marketing managers, they instantly direct their engineering teams to dive in to fix bugs, add features, and a lot more. Sometimes they’ll meet to decide on a huge shift in the plan: whether to gamble or not on moving to employ a new technology. Similarly, every other department is constantly making changes during the turmoil. It’s not a place for managers who need to feel in full control.

Big startup decisions are made in hallways, on the run. There is little time for deep dives into simulations, analysis, lots of numbers, many meetings and careful thinking over weeks or months. A rare meeting or two with just a few people, and it’s go or no-go. “On the fly” it’s called. Drives managers of giant organizations crazy. Executioners of startup business plans love it! They thrive on the incumbent emotions and satisfactions every day.

This chaos is hardest on the first timer founder CEO, often leading to emotional collapses that predict someone else needs to arrive soon to take over the immense challenges of executing the plan for a startup. Wise founders do that and most return to emotional strength, contributing their special talents and skills, supporting the fresh managers now on the job making required changes to the company’s business plan.

Is that you?

Startup managers are responsible for results. No excuses. Even though they are riding an unpredictable roller coaster. They transform the idea into a world-class enterprise. They execute the plan.

1. Startup Managers Are Special
2. Startup Managers Work in Turmoil.
3. Pivot Managers Got Guts
4. Recruiting and Organizing
5. The Marketable CEO
6. The Floundering Founder
7. Focus on What’s Important

I wish you The Best on your adventure!

JOHN

STARTUP MANAGERS ARE SPECIAL: First of 7 in the series

Startup managers face special demands – they must get very difficult things done, urgently,

• by other people (mostly strangers)
• while riding an unpredictable roller coaster (unknows around every corner)
• as they make daily progress along the ever-challenging startup trail (something unexpected pops up every day).

All managers have a tough job. Startup managers have the toughest. They are expected to know how to execute a plan that is sure to be changed daily, and do so brilliantly.

Managers figure out how to get people to do things they don’t want to do. For startup managers, their list of get-them-to-dos contains special managerial challenges:

• Hard things. Tougher than expected, a lot tougher.
• Things never been done before. First ever, unknowns.
• Boring things. Ordinary must-do things required day after day, dreaded by highly creative startup people.
• Emotionally draining things. Intense daily stresses, things and people dreaded by employees.
• Impossible things. Things others think cannot be accomplished.
• Vital things. Do them or the company will die.
• That list is extra challenging when the people are strangers, hired off the street, as fast as possible.

Ah, but there is more to that list:

• Creating an extremely complex technology that works.
• Surveying thousands of potential customers during many months fearing competitors will soon pass them up.
• Delivering a product that has fallen far behind schedule.
• Getting highly intelligent people to do work they think is useless.
• When business is booming, when it is crashing.

Getting people to do things they would rather not do is why managers are called bosses. They get results (through other people). Period. No excuses.

Startup managers are behavioral wizards, especially good as motivators. They have to be, it’s such an intense situation in which people are working that they are driven emotionally to shift to doing only the fun, creative, easy tasks. Startup managers are skilled at getting employees to do things they’d prefer to avoid and feel good in spite of all demands of the boss during the daily ups and downs along the startup trail.

Startup managers are the special people who execute the plan of the startup, making things happen, day after day. They build the startup into a working group of people delivering results, week after week. They are transforming the idea into a real business.

Visionaries and leaders often flop as managers. They typically succeed in limited scope, only able to inspire or lead. Execution of the plan must be done by others.

Often startup founders are recently graduated students with just a few years as an employee. High on enthusiasm and optimism, they lack significant track records as realistic managers. Many are highly creative individuals – perhaps a consumer fashion wiz or high-tech engineer -- lots of special talent but lacking what it takes to be a manager of people who must get amazing things done under demanding circumstances.

Visionaries may have a clever idea that could be the beginnings of the next great game changer startup. But they also represent a high business risk to venture investors. Without managers able to execute on the initial idea, its future is dim. Thus, founders with a network of managers eager to join them are super attractive to the people with the big venture bucks. Thus, it’s understandable that serial founders spend lots of time keeping their stable of managers active, ready to make the move to join then in their next new enterprise.

Startup managers are responsible for results. No excuses. Even though they are riding an unpredictable roller coaster. They transform the idea into a world-class enterprise. They execute the plan.

1. Startup Managers Are Special
2. Startup Managers Work in Turmoil.
3. Pivot Managers Got Guts
4. Recruiting and Organizing
5. The Marketable CEO
6. The Floundering Founder
7. Focus on What’s Important

BOTTOM LINE: When you can manage all of that with skill, you have a powerful unfair advantage and are highly attractive to the finest startup leaders and their investors.

Stay tuned weekly for more!

I wish you The Best on your Adventure!

JOHN

STARTUPS ARE ALL ABOUT PEOPLE

“It’s all about people”.

The big encounter will be about people. Not idea. Not market. Not technology. Not who you know.

Executing a startup business plan is all about people.

The ones you’ll have to hire to execute your business plan.

Recruiting

The startup CEO will spend around a quarter of each week recruiting people. So will the rest of the C-suite.

Recruiting is constant, demanding and often frustrating. But it’s exhilarating when you get an acceptance from a highly talented candidate that is awesome in the skill set you urgently need.

First timers without successful recruiting track records are at a serious disadvantage. Their lack of that people skill – recruiting – increases the risk of failing to execute the plan for the company. Recruiting failures make it very difficult – if not impossible – to attract needed investors and talented employees.

The entire startup will participate in recruiting. All the employees represent the company culture and thus are used to filter candidates coming in to interview. Culture fit is everything to experienced startup people.

Someone will have to be responsible for organizing and administering recruiting. It quickly become complex, with large numbers of people being screened for each position. Often it’s left to chance, lacks a leader. The result: failure. Instead, serial entrepreneurs immediately put into action a process, policies and procedures for recruiting. It’s the most serious responsibility. If you doubt that, ask the veterans.

I wish you The Best on your Adventure!

JOHN